Aerodynamic air cleaner



March 29, 1949. H. J. BURKE 2,465,430

AERODYNAMIC AIR CLEANER Filed 001% 17, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 7- TORNEK March 29, 1949. BURKE 2,465,430

AERODYNAMIC AIR vCLEANER Filed Oct. 17, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 era/d JBufi/re.

INVENTOR.

A TTORN K Patented Mar. 29, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AERODYNAMIC AIR CLEANER Harold J. Burke, Poland, Ohio Application October 17, 1945, Serial No. 622,886

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to air cleaners and more particularly to self-cleaning air cleaners.

The principal object of the invention is the provision of a self-cleaning air cleaner.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an air cleaner incorporating'means for creating a plurality of sub-atmospheric areas for entrapping dust particles passed thereby.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of an air cleaner incorporating a plurality of aerodynamically shaped members forming air pockets for imparting cleaning action to air passed thereover.

The air cleaner shown and described herein has been devised to form a simple and e'fllclent air cleaner utilizing'the joint principles of cleaning air by adhesion and cleaning air by creation of areas of sub-atmospheric pressure in which dust particles in the air will be moved by the air currents passing through the cleaner, The device is so designed that themembers forming the dust adhesion surfaces and creating the subatmospheric pressure areas may be disposed vertically or horizontally within the cleaner and be affixed in either event, and when disposed vertically provide the additional feature of being self-cleaning in that material cleaned for air passing therethrough thereby will move by gravity downwardly from the cleaning means.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed can Figure 5 is a plan view with parts broken away illustrating a means of forming portions of the air cleaner illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. I

Figure 6 is a cross sectional elevation taken on line 6-6 of Figure 5.

By referring to the drawings and Figures 1, 2, 5 and 6 in particular, it will be observed that an air cleaner has been disclosed which consists of a top and bottom closure 10 and II, respectively, positioned on the uppermost end of an air intake tube l2. The bottom closure H is provided with a ,downturned flange l3 which is directly affixed to the exterior of the air intake tube l2 and a web member l4 across the upper end of the air intake tube l2 provides means for mounting a threaded rod 15. The top closure Ill is provided with a centrally located, depressed section l6 through which the uppermost end of the rod I5 is passed and a nut l1 positioned thereon to hold the top closure ID in fixed relation to the bottom closure H and the upper end of the air intake tube I 2. Spacing the top and bottom closures l0 and H there are a plurality of circular members l8 which may obviously be formed from strips of sheet material as disclosed in Figures 5 and 6, and each of these circular members I8 is provided with a plurality of cross sectionally U-shaped baffles I9 stamped therefrom about which air entering the air cleaner from the exterior, as in passing to the interior thereof and into the open, upper end of the air intake tube I2, will flow.

be made within the scope of what is claimed By referring to Figure 2 of the drawings it will be observed that these cross sectionally U-sh aped baflle members l9 terminate inwardly from the upper and lower edges of the circular members l8 and thereby provide space above and below them which may be filled with copper wool 20 which in turn is employed in retaining and supplying an oily fluid for coating the baffle members l9. It will thus be seen that air being drawn through the air cleaner as by an intake manifold (not shown) in connection with the air intake tube l2 will cause air to flow in the exterior of the air cleaner through the torturous passageways between the bafiles Hi to the center area of the air cleaner from whence it may flow downwardly into the intake air tube l2. In so doing, the air to be cleaned passes over the plurality of surfaces presented by the bafiies l9, it being observed that they are aerodynamically shaped with respect to air passing from the exterior of the cleaner to the interior thereof and are coated with an oily fluid as heretofore described. The dust particles in the air will collect on the exterior surfaces of the baiiles IS with the result that the air is thoroughly cleaned upon reaching the center open section of the cleaner, which area is indicated by the numeral 2| in the drawings. In addition to the cleaning action imparted to the air by the direction of the same against the exterior oily coated surfaces of the bafiies l9 and collection of dust particles thereby, the air flowing over these aerodynamically shaped baflles l9 creates in their interiors, which open inwardly with respect to the cleaner proper, areas of sub-atmospheric pressure or partial vacuum in which other dust particles not caught by the oily surface on the exterior of the baffles are thereb attracted into the hollow interiors of the baffles by reason of the sub-atmospheric pressure or partial vacuums existing therein. Thus, dual cleansing action of surface adhesion of dust particles to the baffles interior surfaces and the collection in their interior areas are present which together contribute to a very eflicient operation. In the form of the air filter illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, a self-cleaning operation is also present and that is th normal progressive movement of the oily material applied to the baffles l 9 from the copper wool 20. This material normally settles and takes with it the dust collected. There is also a progressive action around the baffles due to the air flow therethrough and the collection of a considerable portion of the adhered dust particles thereby moves into the interior of the baflies from whence it settles to the bottom of the cleaner. The copper wool 20 in the bottom of the cleaner serves as an absorbing agent to hold and retain the dust and oily materiai until eventually removed and cleaned as is common in the servicing of air cleaners.

It will thus be seen that a simple and efficient air cleaner has been disclosed which utilizes two principles of air cleansing and in so doing achieves a satisfactory air cleaning operation.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the construction illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings and heretofore described may be altered and employed effectively in horizontal pattern. Such an air cleaner may be seen by referring to Figures 3 and 4 wherein an air intake tube is indicated by the numeral 22, the lower closures aifixed thereto indicated by the numeral 23 and the upper closures indicated by the numeral 24. These closures 23 and 24 are spaced apart by means of a circular body member 25 which forms an enclosed space in connection with the closures 23 and 24, the majority of which may be filled with copper wool 26 which is covered with an oily fluid material. The closure 23 which is affixed to the intake air pipe 22 at a distance downwardly from the upper end thereof by means of a depending flange 21, is provided with a plurality of orifices in the bottom to admit air therethrough so that the air thus admitted can flow upwardly through the enclosure defined by the body member 25 and the closure 24 and eventually enter the uppermost end 28 of the air intake tube 22. In order that the air may be effectively cleaned, a plurality of radially spaced cross sectionally U-shaped baffles positioned on horizontal planes are located in the lowermost portion of the enclosure defined by the closures 23 and 24 and are indicated by the numeral 28 in Figure 4. These bailles when coated with the oily material used in the air cleaner, present a construction forming a torturous passage for air currents flowing upwardly therethrough with the result that a considerable quantity of the dust present in the air is collected on the exterior surfaces of the baffles 29 of the oily material. Such dust as is not collected thereby is subjected to the collecting sections of the plurality of lower atmospheric pressure pockets formed in the interiors of the bailles by the air currents flowing thereover with the result that such other dust particles are collected in the baffles. It is well known in aerodynamics that air currents flowing about an object create a partial vacuum adjacent their points of leaving the surface of the object, and further that pieces of foreign material such as dust in the air currents so flowing tend to collect in the said area due to the presence of the sub-atmospheric pressure or partial vacuum. Thus, the air cleaner illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 utilizes the same basic principle of air cleaning as the air cleaner illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 with the exception that the horizontal radial positioning of the plurality of cross sectionally U-shaped baffles 29 do not permit a self-cleaning action as is the case of the device illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 and heretofore described.

In Figures 5 and 6 of the drawings, detailed elevations of the method of forming the circular strips l8 including the cross sectionally U-shaped baflles l9 as employed in the air cleaner illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 may be seen. It will be observed that in Figures 5 and 6 a section of strip material, indicated by the numeral 29, has been punched to provide cut-out sections 30, the opposite edges of each section being turned backwardly as indicated at 3| and 32, respectively, to form in effect the plurality of cross sectionally U-shaped bafiles L9 as heretofore described. When a strip of bailies it has been so formed, the entire strip is bent in a circle and the ends Joined in the assembly. In forming the device illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, a disc of metal is stamped with a radial pattern of cut-outs 33, the edges of which are turned back and curved to form the plurality of baffles 29. It will be observed that whether the bailles are formed on a horizontal plane or on a vertical plane adjacent layers or strips may be employed which overlap to a degree as disclosed in Figures 1 and 4 of the drawings, thereby enabling a plurality of such bafiie forming strips to form a torturous channel around the various aerodynamically shaped bailles themselves. The invention resides in the formation of the baflies and their placement and operation in the air cleaner in onnection with the oily material normally employed therewith and responsible for part of the cleaning action achieved thereby.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In an air cleaner a plurality of vertically positioned airfoils each of which is cross sectionally U-shaped, the arms of the said U-shapes inclining toward each other, said airfoils presenting rounded surfaces to air directed thereagainst and open sections to the air passing thereby so as to create areas of partial vacuums in the said open sections for the collection of dust particles from the air passing through the said cleaner,

2. In an air cleaner a plurality of vertically positioned airfoils each of which is cross sectionally U-shaped, the arms of the said U-shapes incliningtoward each other, said airfoils presenting rounded surfaces to air directed thereagainst and open sections to the air passing The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Kirkpatrick May 31, 1927 Rasmussen Apr. 25, 1933 Coutant June 23, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany Mar. 31, 1923 France Nov. 21, 1928 

